Hosts New Zealand will kickoff the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup with a clash against a qualifier on February 6, 2021 at Eden Park, Auckland. The 31-match schedule was released by the ICC at the tournament’s launch on Wednesday (March 11) which confirms that the games will be held at six different venues in total.
Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will host the games with Christchurch chosen as the venue for the final on March 7 under lights. The two semifinal matches will be held at Tauranga and Hamilton on March 3 and March 4 respectively. And in the news that will come as a relief to many, all three knockout games will have reserve days which wasn’t the case in Australia last week during the T20 World Cup that saw India progress to the final directly following the abandonment of their semifinal clash against England.
Only four teams have been confirmed for the World Cup so far. Australia, defending champions England, South Africa and hosts New Zealand have already qualified with four more spots are up for grabs. The remaining teams will be confirmed following the conclusion of the Women’s Championship and the qualifying event in Sri Lanka in July.
Among the matches confirmed for now, the Trans-Tasman clash featuring Australia and New Zealand on February 13 and the clash between defending champions England and Australia on the second day of the tournament stand out. “It’s a match we absolutely fizz about as players – taking on the Aussies is always a huge thrill,” New Zealand Sophie Devine said. “Cricket fans that come along to the Basin Reserve on Saturday the 13th of February will no doubt see a lot of passion from both teams. Playing in a World Cup against our archrivals in my home city will be an unreal feeling,”
The tournament will see all eight teams facing each other once in the league stage. The top four teams at the conclusion of the group stage will then progress to the semifinals. Hamilton will play host to seven games in the tournament, which is the most, including the semifinal. Christchurch, Wellington and Tauranga will host six games each.
“The ICC has made a long-term commitment to elevating women’s cricket as part of our strategy to grow and develop the global game,” ICC CEO, Manu Sawhney said at the launch event that was also attended by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy, Minister for Sport Grant Robertson, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford and Australian High Commissioner Her Excellency Patricia Forsythe.
“We want to build a sustainable foundation for women’s cricket. It is about building a product that fans want to watch, that kids want to take up, that sponsors and broadcasters want to be part of.
“We are extremely proud of the significant progress we have made in increasing prize money for ICC events over the last few years, with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand having $NZD5.5 million dollars available in prize money compared to $NZD3.1m in 2017 and $NZD316,000 in 2013,” she further added.
